Revolutionary moment in Billerica has marker once again

BILLERICA -- The forefathers of our country were on the brink of imprisonment, or even death. The British were coming fast and furious, and John Hancock and Samuel Adams needed a place to hide.

They headed north, and to the rescue came a Billerica farmer who will forever go down in the record books.

Until two years ago, there was a historical marker for this significant event at the Amos Wyman Homestead. This weekend, a new marker will return to the legendary site in Billerica.

Two years after the bronze plaque was stolen from the Adams-Hancock site, the Billerica Historical Society will rededicate the plaque commemorating where Hancock and Adams hid from British soldiers at the start of the American Revolution.

Two years after the bronze plaque was stolen from the Adams-Hancock site at the Amos Wyman Homestead, the Billerica Historical Society will rededicate a replacement plaque to commemorate where John Hancock and Samuel Adams hid from British sol­diers. Bob Kinsman, past president of the Historical Society, stands with the new granite plaque at the site. SUN/RICK SOBEY

"We're proud of the history of our town, and it was important to rededicate the plaque for such a critical event in our history," said Bob Kinsman, event chair and past president of the Historical Society. "Amos Wyman played such an important role sheltering our leaders in such a volatile time.

"If captured, the outcome of the American Revolution could have been completely different," Kinsman added. "We're proud of their contributions and the fact that this happened in town."

The Historical Society originally marked the site with an inscribed boulder in 1898. Then in 2004, members upgraded the monument with a bronze plaque as part of the town's 350th anniversary celebration.

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But in 2012, thieves stole the bronze plaque, and Billerica police believe that it was melted down and sold for scrap.

However, this weekend the Historical Society will unveil the new plaque at the site. On Saturday, the 239th anniversary of Hancock and Adams finding refuge from the British, the Historical Society will unveil a permanent replacement granite plaque.

"It was a beautiful bronze plaque and we wanted to replace it, but after consulting with the police and the monument designer, they recommended to not use bronze because it's disappearing fast and furious right now," Kinsman said.

Instead, the Historical Society chose a 1-inch thick slice of granite, which was polished and laser-etched. The granite will have no value to thieves, Kinsman said, and a special adhesive will make it long-lasting.

According to the Billerica historian, at the outset of the American Revolution in April 1775, Hancock and Adams were warned about the British crown coming to arrest them and "possibly hanging" them, Kinsman said. As a result, they left Lexington at the urging of Paul Revere, moved through Burlington and eventually ended up at the Amos Wyman Homestead to take shelter from the British troops.

Wyman lived in a small farmhouse that no longer remains at the site. The remote, obscure location in the woods was hard to get to, as well as a spot that troops wouldn't think to look for Hancock and Adams.

"Amos Wyman was a simple subsistence farmer whose name would have probably been lost to history without these famous guys showing up on his doorstep," Kinsman said.

"Hancock and Adams pulled up in a gilded carriage, which is the equivalent of a stretch limousine today. Watching them come down that dirt path would have been pretty incredible."

The Historical Society submitted a proposal to the Billerica Community Funds grant program for $2,000 to fund the plaque, but the grant was approved for $1,000. Also, the nearby Homewood Suites by Hilton contributed $100 to the project. The Historical Society is still looking for sponsors to help defray the project's cost.

In the future, Kinsman hopes the site can be further enhanced with signs to direct the public there, as well as by placing brochures in the hotel. Statues of Adams and Hancock standing in the woods is "only a dream right now," he said.

Descendants of the Wyman family, town government officials and historians are expected to attend the rededication ceremony on Saturday. Also, Billerica Colonial Minutemen will fire blank gunshots.

The ceremony at 10:30 a.m. is open to the public. The site is located in the woods on the left of Homewood Suites by Hilton, at 35 Middlesex Turnpike, near the Burlington line.

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